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A birding group that I was part of sighted the Spot-billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) on 13th February 2016 at 6:35 PM during an evening boat ride at Kumbhargaon, Bhigwan, Maharashtra. The sun had just set, when we sighted a single Spot-billed Pelican circling in the sky. The Pelican circled around 4-5 times before it flew along the river and disappeared in to the horizon.
The other people with me were Bhavesh Rathod, Ranjan Pendharkar, Urvi Shah, Kavita Trivedi, Saumitra Newalkar, Madhav Palshikar, Darshan Mujumdar, Michelle and Rohan Prabhu along with boat guides from Sandip Nagare’s team (Datta & Nitin).
This is probably the second record of Spot-billed Pelican in Pune district & Maharashtra as well. The first record was by Adesh Shivkar at same place Kumbhargaon, Bhigwan, Maharashtra in January 2013.
The Near Threatened Spot-billed Pelican was formerly common across much of Asia, but suffered a widespread decline during the 20th century, but in recent years the population appears to have stabilised, with at least some populations apparently now increasing in response to improved protection. [Source: BirdLife International].
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The Near Threatened Spot-billed Pelican was formerly common across much of Asia, but suffered a widespread decline during the 20th century, but in recent years the population appears to have stabilised, with at least some populations apparently now increasing in response to improved protection.